If something went wrong, then it would all be his fault. There would be no way to take it back, it would be too late. He had to protect his little brother. He tightened his grip on his gun, ready to pull the trigger…
AND THEN HE FELT IT.The press of her lips against his. The taste of her salty tears on her skin.
For a moment, he had no idea what was happening, and his whole body started shaking as he came back to reality.
“Xavier,” she begged him. “Please, Xavier. Tell me you’re here with me. Tell me you’re here.”
Xavier blinked, and blinked again, trying to recall where he was. First, he registered Hannah’s face. Beyond her was Lawson, fists and jaw clenched tight, staring at him with stormy eyes.Xavier looked down and realized he was holding a gun and pointing it at his best friend. Eyes wide, he clicked the safety and shoved the weapon back in his waistband.
Next, were all the noises, guns, shouting, fighting. Too much for his brain to process all at once. So he focused on the woman in front of him, letting everything else fade away.Hannah.
“It’s okay, Hannah,” he murmured to her. “I’m here. I’m back.” He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent to ground him further.
“Oh thank God,” she breathed as she caught his face in her hands. “I thought… I thought I had lost you.” Tears streamed down her cheeks unchecked.
Xavier felt her shaking against him, but she was smiling. This wasn’t like the day he had lost his brother; this was different. Backup had made it in time, and they were going to be okay.
He’d never had a flashback that intense while he’d been awake. Hannah’s kidnapping and the gunfight must have triggered his mind in a way that forced him back to relive that horrible day when he lost Max. If it hadn’t been for Hannah, something similar probably would have happened here. He might have killed his best friend.
He wrapped his arms around Hannah once more and kissed her forehead. “Thank you. You saved me.”
Her face broke out in a grin, and she kissed his chin. “And you saved me. I’m just glad you’re back with us. With me.”
“You okay?” Lawson asked him gruffly, clapping him on the shoulder as Xavier pulled back from Hannah.
“I’m sorry,” he told his best friend. “I didn’t see you…”
“I know,” Lawson replied quickly. “But we need you to be here right now. With us. We’re still fighting.”
Xavier nodded again and reached for his gun. He handed it to Hannah. “Hold this,” he told her. “I don’t trust myself with it right now.”
“Xavier, they can handle it—”
Xavier shook his head, cutting off her reply. She didn’t understand. He had a job to finish. He could have hurt the woman he loved and had almost killed his best friend, her brother. This had to end, and he needed to be the one to do it. This was personal to him.
The first thing Xavier noticed as he rounded the hood of the truck was the quiet, no gunfire. The second was that Cade and Aaron had managed to sneak up on both Jed and Sampson, probably while they had been firing at Xavier. From what Xavier could see, Aaron had Jed handled. He was on the ground, face down, Aaron half-sitting, half-leaning on his back. Aaron had Jed’s arms pulled back and was securing zip-ties around his wrists. Sampson, on the other hand, had managed to shove Cade to the side and was trying to make a run for it toward the woods.
Xavier quickly ran around the opposite side of the van to cut Sampson off, slamming into him and knocking him off his feet.
Sampson hit the ground on his back and rammed his knee up into Xavier’s stomach as he came down over him.
“You really think you can stop me?” Sampson laughed in his face as he knocked Xavier to the side.
Xavier pushed back to his feet and rounded on Sampson has he pulled himself off the ground. “Just give it up,” Xavier told him. “You’re done. There’s no drive, there’s nonothing.You wasted your time on this for no reason, and now you’re going to prison for it.”
Sampson’s eyes narrowed with anger, his face tight as he glowered at Xavier. He must have known Xavier was right. He could have gotten away with everything else he’d done if he had just forgotten about the drive. He was just too damn greedy.
And it was going to cost him everything.
Sampson launched himself at Xavier again, knocking him off his feet, and Xavier lifted his fist to drive it up into Sampson’sjaw. Sampson’s head snapped back, and blood dripped from his split lip as he turned back to Xavier. He swiped at the blood with his sleeve and charged again, diving for Xavier’s legs.
As soon as Xavier’s back hit the forest floor, he pushed off with his legs, flipping them over, with Sampson flat on the ground. They both pushed to their feet and charged, both swinging at the same time. Xavier’s fist slammed in to Sampson’s chin, drawing more blood, at the same time Sampson’s arm went wide, hitting Xavier in the shoulder.
Both sprang back, circling each other and breathing hard. Xavier heard footsteps behind him, and Cade and Aaron appeared ready to take over.
“Xavier, let us—” Cade started.
Sampson took advantage of the distraction and charged Xavier again. He dodged out of the way just in time, leaving Sampson punching at air.
